OLD FASHIONED APPLES

Hug Your Apple

What a magnificent whooper of an old fashioned apple, I was privileged enough recently to be invited to raid a 200 year old apple tree that look like something out of a fairy tale from Once Upon a Time!  Even though these are cooking apples they were so delicious to eat on their own, even if it was apple overload! I also pressed some to make cider and the juice was off the chart in flavour, this evoked questions of who else would have been eating and preserving these apples in the early 1800's quite a magnificent thought.

HOME CURED BACON

Self Sufficient Living

It's really simple to make your own bacon at home, all you need is five days and a fridge!  I make my family's bacon so that I can give them nitrate/nitrites free bacon.  All you need is a glass pryex rectangle container the same size as your side of belly pork with a lid, Himalayan sea salt, hint of brown sugar and pepper.

If you can buy grass feed organic belly pork this not only gives you the cleanest best tasting meat but it ensures that the pigs had a wonderful life being outside rooting and tootleing and if anything like our pigs loved and hugged and spoilt rotten with apples and the occasional banana splits! 

Ingredients 

1 kg high welfare belly pork

500g Himalayan sea sea 

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 tsp ground white pepper

1 glass food container with lid

1 sheet of parchment or muslin

In a glass jar, a ball mason jar is perfect, mix the sea salt, sugar and white pepper so they are evenly combined.  Place the side of belly pork on a large plate and sprinkle over half the salt rub, reserving the rest, give the belly a good massage all over getting the salt rub in every nook and cranny.  Place the pork belly in the glass food dish and pop on the lid, place in the fridge.  The bacon will be ready after five days.

Day one (24hrs later) take the belly pork out of the food container and brush of the damp sea salt, empty the dish of the salt sludge, this is the liquid that the salt is drawing out of the pork, curing it, rub the belly with a little more of the reserved salt from your mason jar and place back in the glass food container with the lid on and place back in the fridge.

Repeat this each day for the next three days, on day four brush off all the salt pat the belly dry with kitchen roll and wrap the belly bacon in a new muslin cloth or parchment paper and this will now keep in the fridge for up to ten days.  Ta da...you now have a side of home cured bacon ready to go, great as a base for many dishes.  

CLAY POT TANDOORI CHICKEN

So Simple...So Quick

Once you have cooked in a Tandoori Clay Pot you will never go back!  The most moist succulent juiciest chicken you will ever eat, fall of the bone tender, aromatic from the spice rub and I don't know if it is the clay cooking pot or chicken brick as it's known in the south west but something adds another layer of flavour that you just can't get from a enamel, or cast iron roasting tin.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 55 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves family of 4)

1 whole chicken un-trussed 

100ml water

The Tandoori Spice Rub

(Store bought or make your own below)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 coriander seeds

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cayenne 

1 tsp turmeric 

Tandoori Spice Rub

Heat a non stick pan or skillet and warm the cumin and coriander seeds until warm, in a pestle and mortal grind the seeds then mix with the rest of ingredients, thats your spice rub done.  Keep in a air tight ball mason jar until needed.

Clay Pot Cooking

If you regularly cook with a clay Tandoori Pot or Chicken Brick you will know that you need to soak your cooking pot in cold water for 15 minutes before using, for you guys not in the know this is to prime the porous clay pot so that it does not suck up all your natural chicken stock cooking juices, if this was to happen you would have a cooked chicken but a very dry one! 

Pre heat your oven 180 C / 356 F.  Rub the chicken generously with your tandoor spices, place in your soaked clay pot and add the water, pop the lid on and place in your pre heated oven, a medium chicken will cook in 55 minutes, once cooked remove the clay pot from the oven and leave with the lid on to rest for around 15 minutes then serve and use the cooking juices as your gravy.  

If you keep back the cooking juices and leave to cool, pop in the fridge you will get chicken jelly, which I call chicken jipper, a sort of loaded chicken spread that is great on toast, or used as a stock for your next country chicken gravy.

PALEO BUTTERNUT SQUASH CHIPS

WoW these are Awesome !!!

These are sooooo good, in fact to good so be warned not to make too many as we ate the whole batch!  Simply to make and best eaten on the day made these are a lovely addition to your paleo food lists that are super good for you too.

Prep time 10 minutes / Baking time 5-7 minutes

Ingredients 

(6-8 servings)

1 butternut squash

2 tbsp coconut oil melted

1/2 tsp sea salt

Pre heat your oven to 180 C / 350 F 

Peel the butternut squash, halve and remove the woolly fiber and seeds, (if you place these seeds on paper and leave them to,dry for a couple of days, store them in a envelope then come spring you can sow these and grow your own squashes for free!). 

Taking your normal vegetable peeler start peeling off large strips, when you have peeled all the squash, toss the chips in the coconut oil, place on a large baking tray, season with salt and pop in the oven, you may have to do this in two batches, as if you over load the baking tray the chips will steam more than bake, and these chips are about the crunch and that crunch is followed by a gorgeous burst of sweet butternut roasted sweet salty squash...Perfect...Thats it leave to cool slightly, remove from the tray and serve.

PALEO DEVILED EGGS

We just love these one bite mouthfuls of sunshine, especially for breakfast and even more so as the eggs come from our lovely garden hens, these gorgeous eggs don't generally make it past breakfast, I always make a double portion in the hope that several will sit in the fridge for those go to moments but in all honesty they never do make it to the fridge! 

Hint of History 

Did you or do you want to know that the Deviled egg originated in Ancient Rome, then in the 13th century in Andalusia Spain they introduced spicy stuffed shrimp to further the flavour, the officiall name Deviled Eggs was then given in the 17th century and in 1786 in Great Britain the first reference in a old cook book about spices with eggs was found and here they are still today 2017 how Awesome is that! 

Hands on time 10 minutes / Egg boiling time 6 minutes

Quick eggs hands on time 5 minutes! 

Ingredients 

(Makes 12 deviled eggs)

6 fresh free range eggs

2 tbsp turmeric olive oil mayo (homemade recipe below)

12 sprigs of asparagus 

2 olives sliced 

1 sprig of chives cut 2" long

100g smoked organic wild Alaskan salmon 

Turmeric Olive Oil Mayonnaise 

This takes one minute to make

1 egg yolk

1 tsp white wine vinegar

150ml olive oil

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch black pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric 

Speedy One Minute Mayonnaise 

To make the mayo place the egg yolk and olive oil in a large bowl, start to drizzle in the oil really really slow and whisk, when approx 1/3 of the oil has been incorporated and the yolk has thickened you can add the oil at a much faster rate, keep whisking, once all the oil has been used season the mayonnaise with salt, pepper and turmeric.  That's it gorgeous fresh clean homemade mayo, any left over will keep for a week in the fridge in a air tight jar.

The Perfect Boiled Eggs

The secret is in the method, its really easy to cook your eggs to exactly how you like them, for this recipe I want the egg yolks just starting to set but still have movement like lava.  Bring a pan of water to a simmer, add a pinch of salt and set the timer for 6 minutes, as your place the eggs in the water turn the timer on, this is important as soon as that timer alarms remove the pan from the heat, drain and fill the pan with cold running water, drain and fill again and leave the eggs to cool for five minutes in the water then remove and peel.

Quick Cheats Deviled Eggs

This is a speedy cheat that still gets the job done, cut the eggs in half top with mayonnaise, salmon, olive and chives and that's it done.

Deviled Eggs

Cut the eggs in half, scoop out all the yolks and place in a bowl with the turmeric mayonnaise and mix to a smooth paste, place in a food or piping bag and pipe the egg mayo back into the egg white shells, top with salmon, chives and olive slices and enjoy.

WONDER BUM MUFFIN

Constipation...No one really wants to talk about it but is a serious worry for a lot of people.

This simple gorgeous cinnamon and apple daily muffin is a great way to help prevent constipation and boost your health too.  A few small portions of high fiber ingredients can have you 2/3 of the way to your full daily guidelines of fiber of 24g.

These are a staple in my home, full of super good for you flax and chia seed, gluten free, low in carb, high in fiber, just one 30g muffin will give you 8g of fiber, thats huge!  High in omega 3 (ALA) approx 6000mg!  Around 30% of your RDA of vitamin B1, manganese, magnesium, 6g of protein, and a healthy level of phosphorus and selenium, along with a good amount of B6, iron, potassium, copper and zinc.

Great for healthy skin and hair, digestive health, colon health, helps lower cholesterol, can support weight loss and finally the Lignans are packed with antioxidants helping with anti aging, what's not to love about these powerful little muffins.  These are great to grab and go too.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 13 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes 12 large / 24 mini muffins)

2 cups of milled organic flaxseed

1/2 cup chia seeds

1/2 cup water or almond milk

1/3 cup coconut oil or milk thistle oil

1 apple grated

1/4 cup xylitol

1 tbsp baking powder gluten free

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Pinch Himalayan sea salt

3 large eggs beaten

This is really a one bowl mix, pre heat your oven to 180 C / 356 F, first soak the chia seeds by mixing them with the water or almond milk and leave to one side for 10 minutes,  place the rest of the dry ingredients in your bowl mix to combine, then add the rest of the wet ingredients and stir well to combine, leave to rest for a couple of minutes while you place large muffin cases in your muffin pan, now stir in the soaked chia seeds and spoon the mixture in to your muffin cases filling almost to the top as these muffins will hardly rise.  They will be light fluffy and airy.

Pop in the pre heated oven and bake for 13 minutes for large and around 9 minutes for the mini's, insert a skewer to check that the muffins are cooked, the skewer should come out clean when cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack, that's it.  A serious helping towards bowel health.

You can have fun changing the fruit for others, some of my family favourites are blueberries, pear, dried apricots, zesty orange and mixed spices at Christmas etc...

LAMB MADRAS GOLD MEDAL RECIPE

You won't believe you can cook a curry as good as this...Well thats what I thought, I have finally mastered a set of recipes for the most awesome currys and have tested them so many times my family groan if I say Curry for Sunday Lunch!!!  Not something that used to happen!

I toast and grind up my spices every week to keep them fresh and to hand when ever I need them, double up the recipes and keep the extra spice mixes in a ball mason jar so they are ready to go next time, making your own does make a big difference in the quality of the flavour of the curry, but I appreciate the overwhelming list of ingredients, store bought curry powders will still do the job.

Cooking & Prep time 30 minutes / Oven Cooking time3hrs in the oven 

This recipe is a two pan cook at the same time

Ingredients 

(Serves 4)

Stage 1 Curry

1 tbsp ghee

4 lamb shanks

1 onion finely sliced

3 cloves garlic grated

2 tbsp ginger grated

10 cardamom pods bashed

1 tbsp cumin seeds lightly toasted

1 tbsp corinader seeds lightly toasted

1 tsp turmeric 

1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

100g tomato puree

1/2 cup of water

Stage 2 Curry Sauce

2 tsp fenugreek

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp corinader seeds

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp garam masala

1 tbsp madras curry powder

1 tbsp ghee

2 onions diced

3 garlic cloves chopped

3 tbsp ginger grated

2 tbsp diced carrot

6 tomatoes diced

1 red pepper diced

500ml - 1 ltr  water

1/2 juice lemon

1/2 small bunch fresh coriander chopped 

Place two pans on the cooker, (stage 1 and stage 2 pans), stage 1 pan needs to have a lid and to be oven proof, bring both pans to a medium hot heat, in Stage 1 Pan add one tbsp of ghee and sear the lamb shanks until brown all over, then turn the heat down to medium, add the rest of the stage one ingredients except the water and tomato puree, soften for around five minutes, then add the water and tomato puree, meanwhile at the same time in Stage 2 Pan...

Stage 2 Pan heat medium hot place the fenugreek, cumin and coriander seeds, lightly warm through then remove and grind with a coffee grinder or in a pestle and mortar, the fenugreek will not grind all the way down, not a problem.  Place the ground spices in a bowl with the dry powder spices, paprika, turmeric and half the garam masala and the curry powder.  Mix evenly.  Place 1 tbsp ghee in the stage 2 pan and add the onions gently soften for around five minutes then add the garlic, ginger, red pepper and carrot and soften for a further 10 minutes, add the diced tomatoes then add half of the toasted spice mix you made earlier stir in then add the water, usually 500ml makes a loose sauce but add more if the sauce is too thick, bring to a rolling simmer and cook for 10 minutes, then using a stick blender or food processor blitz the sauce smooth.  Now add this to Stage 1 Pan, stir in well covering all the lamb shanks.

Place the lamb shanks in the oven with a lid on and leave to cook for around 3 hours until the sauce has thickened and the lamb is falling off the bone, finish off the curry with the lemon juice, remaining tsp of garam masala and fresh coriander.

SESAME SOY WASABI SEARED CHICKEN

This is awesome, crispy nutty sesame seared juicy chicken drizzled with a wasabi and soy sauce, this is so moorish, make extra so you can have it cold with salad or stuffed in a wrap the next day too!  

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients 

(Serves 2)

1 tsp coconut or olive oil

2 chicken breasts

4 tbsp sesame seeds

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch black pepper 

1 tsp wasabi paste

2-4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 bunch watercress

200g bag spinach

Salad Dressing

100 ml olive oil

35ml balsamic vinegar 

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch black pepper 

Place all ingredients in a ball mason jar and shake to combine.

Heat your skillet just medium hot, add the coconut oil, season the chicken with the salt and pepper, place 1 tbsp of the sesame seeds on a plate and press the chicken breast on to the sesame seeds, sprinkle another tbsp of sesame seeds on the top of the chicken and coat the breast all over on the plate, repeat with the other chicken breast.  

Place the sesame seasoned chicken in the hot skillet and sear the chicken for around one minute on each side turning only after one minute, keep on repeating this cooking method for around 6-8 minutes until the chicken is just cooked all the way through, this is so you don't over sear the sesame seeds, if you did your chicken would end up with a bitter flavour, a little time consuming cook, usual I would leave the chicken to seal for around 4 minutes on each side but this would over caramelise the sesame seeds so, a little extra effort is needed, turn the chicken every minute or so for juicy nutty perfection.

Mix the wasabi paste with the soy sauce and drizzle in the sesame oil, serve the chicken on the dressed salad and serve the soy sauce as a dip or drizzled over the chicken, enjoy.

PALEO BUTTERNUT SQUASH NEST WITH MOLLET EGGS

Self Sufficient Dinners

I love harvest time, all the bounty of the garden is in and stored ready for use over winter and with butternut squash one of our winter staples what better way to start the autumn day with this gorgeous breakfast recipe, self sufficient dinners are so satisfying it makes me smile with each mouthful knowing that this meal came completely from the garden.

Prep time 10 minutes / Baking time 20 minutes

Ingredients 

(Makes 8)

400g grated butternut squash

1 onion finely sliced

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch black pepper 

1/2 tsp turmeric 

1 tbsp olive oil

8 eggs

Pre heat your oven to 180 C / 356 F, place the grated butternut squash in a muslin cloth or tea towel and squeeze out any excess liquid from the squash, next add the onion, sea salt, pepper and turmeric, mix well and roughly divide into 8 ball portions.  Grease your muffin tin with olive oil if needed, place each butternut squash ball in your muffin tin and press the squash up the sides making your nest shape.  Pop in the oven and bake for around 20 minutes until crispy, meanwhile...

Mollet Eggs

Perfect soft boiled eggs where the yolk is thick and still pourable but not runny and all the white is set, bring a deep pan to a rolling simmer, season with a pinch of sea salt, place in your eggs and set the timer for 6 minutes, add 10 seconds if large eggs.  The timing is crucial, even an extra 10 seconds will make the difference between a grey ringed over boiled hard egg and a gorgeous soft creamy rich egg!  As soon as your timer rings immediately plunge the boiled eggs in a bowl with running cold water, leave the cold water running for 30 seconds before turning off, leave the eggs to cool further in the water until the butternut squash nests are cooked.

Peel your eggs, chop off the top and bottom so that the eggs sit stable, leave to one side.  When your nests are cooked leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tin, stuff in your mollet eggs and serve.

FLAXSEED BREAKFAST MUFFINS

Paleo Recipes

These are a staple in my home, full of super good for you flax and chia seed, gluten free, low in carb, high in fiber, just one 30g muffin will give you 8g of fiber, thats huge!  High in omega 3 (ALA) approx 6000mg!  Around 30% of your RDA of vitamin B1, manganese, magnesium, 6g of protein, and a healthy level of phosphorus and selenium, along with a good amount of B6, iron, potassium, copper and zinc.

Great for healthy skin and hair, digestive health, colon health, helps lower cholesterol, can support weight loss and finally the Lignans are packed with antioxidants helping with anti aging, what's not to love about these powerful little muffins.  These are great to grab and go too.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 13 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes 12 large muffins)

2 cups of milled organic flaxseed

1/2 cup chia seeds

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 pear grated

1/4 cup xylitol

1 tbsp baking powder gluten free

1-2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Pinch Himalayan sea salt

1/2 cup water

5 large eggs beaten

This is really a one bowl mix, pre heat your oven to 180 C / 356 F, place all the dry ingredients in your bowl mix to combine, then add all the wet ingredients and stir well to combine, leave to rest for a couple of minutes while you place large muffin cases in your muffin pan, spoon in your filling almost to the top as these muffins will hardly rise.

Pop in the pre heated oven and bake for 13 minutes, insert a skewer to check that the muffins are cooked, the skewer should come out clean when cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack, that's it.

You can have fun changing the fruit for others, some of my family favourites are blueberries, apple, dried apricots, zesty orange and mixed spices at Christmas etc...

SLOW BRAISED SHORT RIBS WITH TURMERIC CAULIFLOWER MASH

Paleo Recipes

This is one of my winter is on the way comfort foods, succulent juicy fall of the bone tender slow braised beef with bone marrow infused au jus (which I just have to have in a mug with my meal!)  this is a dinner that cooks itself low and slow in the oven, aga or crock pot where very little effort is needed.  I often set this up early in the day so when we all get home we are welcomed with the gorgeous mouth watering smell of dinner,  just throw on some cauliflower mash and we're good to Go! 

Prep time 10minutes / Hands on cooking 20 mins / Slow cooking time 3-4 hrs

Ingredients 

(Serves 4)

6-8 short ribs (Butcher or Waitrose)

1 tbsp coconut or olive oil

2 carrots peeled and diced

1 large onion finely sliced

1 whole bulb garlic halved

1 leek quartered

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 sprig marjoram (optional)

1.5 ltr beef stock

1 ltr water (approx)

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp mustard powder

For The Cauliflower Mash

1 large head cauliflower florets

2 tbsp butter

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch black pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)

Turn your oven to 150 C / 290 F, place the coconut oil in a large oven skillet or braising tin on a low medium heat, add the onion, gently cook for 10 minutes until translucent, next add the carrots and leek and leave to cook for a further 10 minutes until softened, you can add everything at once if in a hurry, but layering ingredients gives more depth of flavour, add the rest of the ingredients and place the short ribs bone side down in the tin, this is so that all the flavour from the bone marrow will melt into the stock, add enough water to cover the ribs.  Cover the braising tin with a sheet of parchment then tin foil and pop in the oven to work its in unattended magic for around three hours.  At this point I often remove the braising tin from the oven, have a quick check on how fork tender the meat is, if the meat is wanting to fall off the bone your good to go, if not just pop back in for another half an hour and check again.  At this point I also squeeze out all the lovely garlic purée from its casing in to the au jus and mix in, taste the au jus and season with sea salt if needed.

Meanwhile make the cauliflower mash, simply steam or boil your cauliflower until really soft, place in a large bowl with the butter, turmeric,salt and pepper and either mash by hand if you like texture or blitz with a hand blender or food processor if you like more of a soft smooth purée texture, taste and check for seasoning, that's it job done. 

Serve the gorgeous braised ribs on top of a pile of creamy buttery cauliflower mash with a ladle of au jus and for me a side order of aunjus in my special gravy mug so that I can drink in all that flavour!  It' something my man always did for me with her and my favourite dish Nan's braised steak and kidney.

CAULIFLOWER TURMERIC MASH

PALEO GLUTEN FREE

Missing those heavy carb loaded mashed potatoes?  This recipe is not only going to satisfy that need for that autum winter comfort spoon food this side order won't leave you feeling like you've eaten a pillow with that heavy carb overload that then rises you blood glucose so high you feel the need for a insulin nap!  The extra bonus is the Turmeric and Black Pepper health boosting properties.  My geeky food science bit below...

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients 

(Serves 2-3)

1 large head of cauliflower in florets 

1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt

1/4 tsp turmeric 

1/4 tsp black pepper
20g grated fresh Parmesan 

Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil, season with a pinch of sea salt, add the cauliflower florets and boil until fork tender around 7 minutes, alternatively you can steam the cauliflower which would keep more nutrients in the cauliflower.  

Once cooked drain in a colander for a couple of minutes, place back in the saucepan and mash, season with the black pepper and turmeric, then add the Parmesan, a salty cheese, taste the mash before adding any additional sea salt.

My husband likes lumpy mash, where as I prefer a smooth puree, if you want a smooth finish I use my stick blender to puree the mash rather than a hand held potato masher.

Geeky Science Bit...

Turmeric is super good for you, but more important is the need to eat turmeric with black pepper, why?  The curcuma longs L in turmeric is not utilised in our body due to its rapid metabolism in the liver and intestinal wall, combining consumption of piperine a know inhibitor of intestinal absorption found in black pepper significantly increased the concentration of curcumin up to 2000% in turn extending the absorption time.

Turmeric 1500mg RDA

Turmeric is one of those little spices you should try and eat every day, helps control high blood sugar, great if you have or are pre disposed to diabetes, anti inflammatory, anti oxidant helps protect against ageing, anti atherosclerotic, heart protecting and weight reducing actions, another great benefit for diabetes and reducing complications from associated diseases.  Important role of curcumin a key component in turmeric in the the prevention and treatment again of diabetes and associated disorders, neuroprotective and anti infections actions.  Helps protect against Alzheimer's.